Justin Bieber visits Japan, lifts spirits

Justin Bieber visits Japan, lifts spirits

ou've likely heard the idiom, "politics makes strange bedfellows." In Tokyo, at the U.S. Ambassador's Residence, the saying came to life as teen heartthrob Justin Bieber, the American and Canadian ambassadors to Japan and nine children from the tsunami-ravaged region of Japan gathered in a small room in front of the international press.
The 17-year-old Canadian pop star walked into the room with the children and squeezed onto a couch with them. The girls and boys, all representatives of some of the hardest-hit communities in northeastern Japan, shyly peered at Bieber as he made small talk with them.

"How old are you?" the singer asked one of the girls.

"17," she replied.

"I'm the same age!" he exclaimed.

A boy read a letter he wrote to Bieber, saying thank you for sharing his time with them. The boy said he was from Otsuchi, a town where half of the city was completely leveled. He bowed and looked pleased.

"Things can get better and things will get better," Bieber told the children, as cameras clicked all around him. "There can only be good times to come from this and my prayers go out to all of your families."

U.S. Ambassador John Roos also hoped it sent a message to a wider audience.

"Events like Justin Bieber's visit to Japan not only lift the spirits of young people in Japan but are an important contribution to the message to the world that Japan is safe to visit and open for business," said Roos.